SJU RENEWS UCONN RIVALRY TONIGHT

by Zach Smart


St. John's, a program that has dwindled, significantly, should be ready to go tonight. The Johnnies pulled off a heart-racing, hard-to-believe 71-65 upset of St. John's to open the New Year on a high note. The inevitable ecstasy would turn to agony, however, as the Johnnies were drubbed by the nation's top-ranked team in Pittsburgh.

Against the Panthers in the first half, some lingering effects of the Notre Dame upset were evident. The Johnnies played neck-and-neck with the Panthers, seizing a three-point lead following D.J. Kennedy's baseline jumper with 5:36 remaining.

The Panthers were suddenly in the midst of a first have dogfight.

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With the game log-jammed at 29, DeJuan Blair's putback of Gilbert Brown's missed free throw broke the tie. It was a veritable microcosm of the game, Blair fighting for position and ripping down boards with reckless regard for his opponent.

Blair, the homegrown Pitt product and high school teammate of St. John's DJ Kennedy, scored 23 points and ripped down 15 boards.

With under two minutes remaining in the half, Sam Young slammed on the breaks in transition, lofting the ball high in the air. Floating somewhere between the arena ceiling and the hardwood, the freakish Gilbert Brown jammed home the alley to give Pitt a 41-36 halftime edge.

The Panthers broke the game open in the second half, ripping off a momentum-rolling 16-6 lead that gave them a 64-48 lead by the half's midway mark.

So, the tri-state area rivalry renews itself tonight at 7 PM at MSG.

No.4 UConn (14-1, 3-1 Big East) is no Pitt, but they're front-loaded with super-sized bigs that could clog up the key and keep the Johnnies from attacking the cup.

Hasheem Thabeet, the 7-foot-3 beanstalk, loves to influence, alter, manipulate, and change the trajectory of shots by guards and forwards audacious enough to take the ball to the rack on him.

Thabeet, a junior and surefire NBA lottery pick, hasn't been the presence he was last year. He had only two blocked shots against Cincinnati and looked lost and listless against Georgetown. The Huskies have won three consecutive games since then and will look to conclude the road swing with a victory that will help them in the conference race. The Huskies are currently tied for fifth place with Providence, who scored two Big East wins over downtrodden programs.

It should be an intriguing homecoming for Kemba Walker, the point guard who played at New York City power Rice High school last year. Walker is familiar with Madison Square Garden, aka "The Mecca," having played there in AAU tournaments and various high school games with former UConn Husky Curtis Kelly. He knows as good as anyone that the Huskies will need to bring their 'A' game.

"We can't sleep on them," said Walker during an interview with the Hartford Courant.

"We have to go as hard as every other game. Coach told us that they always play us hard."

The rivalry has been one-sided these past 10 years. The Huskies have won seven straight since Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor and company suffered a loss in 2002.

Last year against the Johnnies, Jerome Dyson tied a program record with nine steals and A.J. Price scored 25 points as the Huskies rolled to an 81-65 route. Dyson's nine steals in a game tied Scottie Burrell. Burrel played for the Charlotte Hornets during the "Grandma Ma" Larry Johnson era and won a ring with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in 1998. He originally set the record in 1990 against Maine.

Dyson, who loves to play at the Garden and beat up on the on-the-bubble teams, should have his hands full this time around. Last year, around this time, Dyson was virtually nonexistent in the UConn Huskies system.

The Rockville, Md. native was arrested along with former Husky Doug Wiggins, for an alcohol-related incident in which a small amount of marijuana was found near the car. When Dyson failed a drug test following the incident, he was suspended for around a month.

The Huskies seemed to be better without their go-to scorer, winning five straight, with three of the wins coming against nationally-ranked opponents. Dyson, who entertained thoughts of eventually bolting for the NBA draft at the beginning of his sophomore season, was in a brief funk once he returned. Out of the groove he'd been in at the first half of the system, Dyson's stock plummeted before he returned to formidable form.

It was UConn's recruitment of the aforementioned Wiggins that renewed the rivalry with UConn off the court. Wiggins was committed to Norm Roberts before reneging on his commitment just weeks before the signing period when an opening appeared on the UConn roster. Wiggins de-committed verbally from the 'Storm and then signed with UConn the next month, touching off some verbal jousting from the SJU head coach towards the UConn staff and it had internet message boards buzzing.

Now, to make this rivalry complete, the Redstorm need to compete more on the court. Is tonight the night?